Plot Summary

Edward Said was one of the great contemporary intellectuals of our time and a prominent spokesperson for the Palestinian cause. Shortly before his death in 2003, a French film crew spent several weeks with him and his family. The result is this intimate documentary that offers Said's reflections on how the experience of exile shaped the central ideas, the work and the struggles of this famous academic and activist. Speaking of his background, Said once told a journalist, "My sense of exile has been lifelong -- it's a question of articulating it," Selves and Others features the Said speaking about his nomadic childhood and his views on Eastern identity in the West and how the city of New York balances tradition with a sense of constant change.